Jon Jay hopes to stay surging at the plate when the St. Louis Cardinals resume a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers Tuesday at Miller Park.
Jay hit a tie-breaking two-run homer during the sixth inning of Monday's 8-5 win over the Brewers and is batting .370 with 27 hits, 17 RBI and 12 runs scored this month.
"He's got something really good going. Just like to see it continue for a couple months," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said.
Carlos Beltran went 3-for-5 with a home run and Yadier Molina collected four hits for St. Louis, winners of three in a row and six of the past eight games.
Shelby Miller got the start and did not come away with a decision, as he allowed two runs in 5 1/3 innings with eight strikeouts and four walks.
"He made a couple of mistakes that came back to haunt him," Matheny said about Miller. "You know he had a leadoff walk one inning and hit a batter to start another inning and those came back to bite him."
Michael Wacha got the win in relief and Edward Mujica posted his 32nd save in the ninth.
The Cardinals are still a game behind Pittsburgh for the NL Central lead and hope Lance Lynn can bounce back from a couple rough outings when he toes the rubber Tuesday. Lynn is 0-1 in his last two starts, allowing seven runs in that span, and owns a 3-5 mark in the past eight decisions. Lynn was reached for four runs in 5 1/3 innings of a 6-5 win over Pittsburgh last Thursday.
Lynn, a right-hander, is 13-6 with a 3.89 ERA in 25 starts and 2-1 in seven career meetings (3 starts) with Milwaukee.
Milwaukee has dropped two straight and four of six games, and scored three runs in the seventh inning to take a 5-4 lead. However, the Cardinals erupted for four runs in the top of the eighth and Brandon Kintzler was responsible.
Kintzler took the loss and Marco Estrada allowed four runs in the first six innings. Aramis Ramirez and Norichika Aoki both homered and Jonathan Lucroy registered three hits, two RBI and a run scored.
"Everybody is playing for something here," Ramirez said. "We have a lot of young guys here who want to show everyone what they can do and get a full-time job for next year."
Former Cardinal Kyle Lohse draws the start Tuesday for the Brewers and looks to get back on track after losing his last outing. Lohse pitched well in a 2-1 loss versus Cincinnati on Thursday and was touched for two runs, one of which was earned, in seven innings. Lohse fell to 8-8 in 25 starts to go along with a 3.17 earned run average.
Lohse, who was 7-1 in his previous eight decisions before losing to the Reds, has lost all three starts against the Cardinals this season and owns a 2-5 career record and 3.93 ERA in this series.
The Cardinals have won nine of 11 versus the Brewers this season, sweeping a four-game set in Milwaukee from May 2-5.
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